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Gemological Microscopes and Supplies
Your gemological microscope is as important as your trained eye for identifying gem quality. Gemological microscopes are also great sales tools. Invest in the right tool to help your business grow. The gem microscope you need is below, and microscope accessories are here.
Gemological microscopes are broadly used for two things (there are several specialized applications, but these two things comprise the bulk of what your gem microscope will do).
Gem stone identification. Gemology is the study of precious stones. A big part of what gem stone experts do with a gemological microscope is looking at precious stone samples to identify them.
Sales. Jewelers often use a stereo microscope (another name for a gem microscope) as a sales tool on the floor of their shop. When a customer looks down the eyepiece at the diamond or other gemstone that caught their eye, that gem looks better than ever. They can confirm for themselves they're getting a beautiful gemstone.
What features matter most for gem identification and grading when using a gem microscope?
For gem identification and grading, your trained eye is your most important tool. But you do need a gem microscope with features that let your eye do its best work. Those features include:
A darkfield condenser for darkfield illumination. This allows you to see inside the gem to help spot cracks, occlusions, or any other kinds of imperfections.
Brightfield illumination. This allows you to easily identify surface inclusions. LED illumination is preferred by gemologists because the light is cool and bulbs last basically forever.
A trinocular head (sometimes the whole thing is referred to as a trinocular microscope) and digital camera. This allows you to easily catalog your findings for any necessary recordkeeping.
A note on working distance. Most gem microscope models feature working distance of 3" to 4". This is plenty of space for your tweezer to move and rotate the gemstone under the stereo zoom lens.
A gemology microscope for a jewelry shop is a sales tool and needs a little more flash.
Some key features and phrases you want to see with your gemological microscope include:
A wide field of view, so customers don't feel like they're struggling to see the stone.
A gem clamp or gem stone holder so you can easily place the gem in focus and under ideal light conditions for viewing.
A binocular microscope head. It's more compelling and impressive for customers to look down the 10X eyepiece like a real gemologist.
Rubber eyeshields. Mostly for customer comfort.
A stable microscope base. You don't want inexperienced users, like customers, to knock your expensive rig down.
A working distance of at least 3", so it's easy to move stones in and out for customers to inspect.
Powerful darkfield transmitted illumination. Your customers can see inside the stone, and they'll be impressed by the technology you make available to them. A light source that includes darkfield, brightfield, and any number of fiber optic light sources that can be easily repositioned will serve you well.
Excellent optics are important for both gem identification and grading as well as sales.
A note on magnification. Gemological microscopes don't need the kind of magnification you'd find in a compound microscope. Instead, The 6.5X to 45X range of a typical stereo microscope is perfect for gem microscope applications.
How do you know which model has the best optics for your purpose? You can give us a call and walk us through your application. We'll point you in the right direction as best we can (and we can do it pretty well because we've been doing it for decades).
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